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N PElEns. PHOTO-LITHOGRAPMEI.. WASHINGTON. D C,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FOSTER C. SHAW, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF FIVE-EIGHTHS TO l JOHNSHILLITO & CO., OF SAME PLACE.

BIFURCATED GARMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 240,277, dated April19, 1881.

Application filed February 14, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FOSTER C. SHAW, of Cincinnati, in the county ofHamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Bifurcated Garments, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to the manufacture of bifurcated garments, andparticularly drawers and overalls; and it consists in cutting the legportions in the peculiar manner hereinafter described, Whereby each legis formed with asingle seam, andsaid seam brought to the outer side, andin an improved manner of re-enforcing or strengthening the crotch andgiving a finish to the garment.

In the accompanying drawings, Fi gurel represents a pair of drawersembodying my improvement Fig. 2, the piece of which the leg is formed,opened out to show its shape; Figs. 3 and 4, respectively, outer andinner face or side views of a sin gle completed leg;

and Figs. 5 and 6, views ofthe front and back re-enforcing pieces,respectively.

The object of my invention is primarily to increase the strength anddurability of the garment, and in carrying out this object, in themanner presently described, I secure also an improved finish orappearance and greater comfort in use.

Hitherto it has been customary to so cut the material that each legshould contain either an inside and outside seam, or more commonly asingle seam on the inner side of the leg. Such construction isobjectionable, for the reason that the sewing together of the legs isrendered more difficult because of having to sew across the seams,necessitating the raising of the presser-foot and the slackenin g of thespeed of the sewing-machine, and for the further reason that thegarment, when thus constructed, is liable to give away in the crotch, atthe point where said seams meet. Theinside seam, moreover, chafes andannoys the wearer.

To overcome these difficulties, I cut the material from which to formtheleg in the shape indicated in Fig. 2, a portion being cut out at theupper end, midway between the edges of the piece,in its open or unfoldedcondition, as at a, to conform to the crotch, the edge of this cut-awayportion forming the meeting line of the leg with its mate. The blank ormaterial A is then folded along the lines b c, about midway between acentral line, d, bisecting the material in the direction of its length,andthe sides or edges ef of said material or blank. The outer edges arethus brought together about midway between the folds b c, on the outerside of the leg, where the seam is formed, as indicated in Figs. l and2. The legs, being thus cut and formed, are sewed together along theline of the cut-away portion a, or crotchline, as usual. It is to benoted that by bringing the leg-seam to the outer side the line ofmeeting of the two legs is left free from all unevenness or extrathicknesses hitherto occasioned by the leg-scams; hence the legs may bemore readily and firmly united, and all chaing of the wearer is avoided.

It is well. known that garments of the kind referred to more frequentlygive away in the crotch than at other places; hence the importance ofpreserving the material at such point in an integral condition andwithout seams, which are always more or less liable to rip, will beseen. But to still further insure the crotch against such difficulty, Ipreferably employ a re-enforce strip, B, which may commence at thetermination of the ordinary front facing, C, or at the bottom of thefront placket, and extends through the crotch, up the back seam, andalong the upper portion of the garment until itagain meets the frontfacing, C, at the line of the legseam, as shown in Figs. l and 2; or itmay continue across said seam, as preferred. When such re-enforce isused it is, ofcourse, applied to 111e legs, one piece to cach, beforethey are united, in the manner indicated in Fig. 4. The form of thefront re-enforoe or facing is shown in Fig. 5, and that of the backre-enforce in Fig. 6. The re-enforce extending up the back gives thenecessary strength of material for properlysecuring the seam at thebottom of the rear placket, and also gives a finish and additionalstrength to the upper portion of the drawers or garment. A waistband,with strap and buckle or lacing, is employed, as usual.

The front and back re-enforce may, if desired, be cut in one piece andarranged to cross and protect the outer seam against ripping, and may ineither form be used on garments cut in the ordinary way. It is, however,especially designed and adapted for garments cut in the peculiar mannerdescribed.

The manner of laying out the lines for cuttin gis well known, andrequires no description.

Having described my invention7 I claim- 1. As an Yimproved article ofmanufacture, a bifurcated garment each leg of Which contains a singleseam, said seam being at the outer side of the leg.

2. The herein-described method of forming legs of bifurcated garments,consisting in cutting away the blank midway between the sides or edgesto form the crotchline, folding the edges inward toward each other, anduniting them on a line between the folds, as set forth.

3. A blank for the formation of legs of bifurcated garments, having acut-away portion, zo a, at the top, midway between the sides or edges,as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a bifurcated garment, a re-enforce strip extending along thecrotch-seam from the termination of the front placket, up the back z 5seam, and along the waist to the leg-seam, as shown and described. f

5. In combination with a bifurcated garment having an outside leg-seam,as described, are-enforceextending through the crotch to and 3o alongthe waist and crossing the leg-seam in a continuous piece, to protectsaid seam against strain or ripping.

FOSTER C. SHAW.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM W. DODGE, GEORGE BAUER, Jr.

